Pigs may have to fly before Chinese pork safe

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China's next manned space mission will carry capsules of pig
sperm to see if intense radiation enhances the production of pork,
a favourite of Chinese cuisine.

Earlier unmanned space missions have taken the seeds of lotus
plants and vegetables into orbit, and these have produced
extra-large produce when planted on their return.

It remains to be seen whether the two Chinese astronauts going
into extended orbit on the Shenzou 6 vehicle in October come back
with the seeds of a super porker or a monster.

"Exposed to micro-gravity, high levels of radiation and magnetic
fields, the DNA of the sperm will genetically mutate," said Wang
Jinyong of the Chongqing Academy of Animal Husbandry.

"There may be good and bad changes in the DNA  our job is
to keep the good changes and omit the bad so that we can improve
the quality of the pig."

The news may not be so reassuring to urban consumers who,
according to recent surveys, now list food safety as their main
worry in life.

China has been hit by a series of food contamination scandals
over the past two years as its population becomes increasingly
urbanised and reliant on processed foods and fresh food sold at the
end of a long supply chain.

Last year, dozens of babies were reported to have died of
malnutrition in Anhui province after being fed fake milk formula.
This year a leading Chinese dairy company was caught reprocessing
out-of-date milk.

Patients in central Sichuan province and Hong Kong are still
suffering from a pig fever from contaminated pork. In one case,
traders dug up and sold the carcasses of condemned animals that had
been culled and buried. So far, 39 people have died of the
infection in Sichuan's Zizhong county.

Mrs Li said she avoided processed food where possible, and all
genetically modified food. "The beef price has been soaring. We eat
a lot of potatoes and cabbage  my figure is becoming like a
potato and my skin like a cabbage's."

A survey published this week by online group Edatapower found
that food safety was the No.1 concern about potential emergencies
ranked by residents of 10 major cities.

It came ahead of worries about pollution, traffic accidents,
epidemics, power shortages, crime, earthquakes, chemical leaks and
computer viruses.